World Junior Wrestling: Bhanwal becomes first Indian to win back-to-back medals

Sajan Bhanwal became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the Junior World Wrestling Championship after he secured a silver in the 77kg Greco Roman category in Trnava, Slovakia.

Islam Opiev of Russia proved to be too good for the 20-year-old from a village near Sonipat, winning the bout through technical superiority. The scoreline was 8-0.

In the opening 90 seconds, Sajan was hit with passivity and was thrown from the par terre position, official website of United World Wrestling reported.

With Sajan down, Opiev went to work, scoring six additional points from a pair of back-arches, followed by a feet over back exposure to take the 7-0 lead.

The action was blown dead, and both wrestlers were brought up to their feet. In the standing position, Opeiv charged Sajan near the edge of the mat and picked up the match-ending eighth point, and the 77kg gold medal, the report added.

The Haryana wrestler, who had won the gold at Junior Asia Championship in July, had defeated Dmytro Gardubei from Ukraine in the semifinals.

Sajan, who had also won a bronze in the 2017 World Junior Championship at Tampere, Finland, had beaten Norway’s Per Anders Kure in the quarterfinals.